ALIYA ABREU
PANAJI
At a time when Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is seemingly having a politically smooth ride at the helm, a visibly bold Facebook page brazenly espousing the cause of his cabinet colleague Michael Lobo for the top political post could instill an ounce of unease in the CM’s team.
On Tuesday, the vocal Lobo, celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi with Sawant at the latter’s ancestral home, even playing the Ghumot during an aarti, making it seem like all
is well between the two. But, is it?
The Facebook page, online since August 22, 2019, gives away the plot, if there indeed is one, by its very title: “Michael Lobo for Chief Minister- Goa.”
The Minister when contacted, admitted he was in the know of the FB account’s existence.
The creators of the page, meanwhile, have not restricted themselves only to Facebook to demonstrate their own and build more support for Lobo, the BJP legislator from Calangute.
On August 29, mass SMSes were sent out under the registration “MD-MCLOBO” sharing the link to the page, and asking for support for the “young and dynamic leader.” The SMSes mentioned that the page was managed by “Friends of Michael Lobo.”
Lobo however, denied that it was his office that was connected to the creation and running of the page.
“My political opponents are running the page, and I have a doubt as to who it is. These opponents are not happy that I am a minister, and are trying to instigate the BJP and the Chief Minister against me,” Lobo told The Goan, adding that these “opponents” only wanted to create a rift between him and CM Sawant and were trying to prove to the CM that it had been a mistake to make Lobo Minister.
When asked if he still aspired to be CM, Lobo replied with, “I have been given the portfolios I asked for. I had asked for Waste Management, RDA, Science and Technology, and I have been given those portfolios.”
Lobo was very specific that his office was “neither promoting nor sponsoring” the politically audacious FB page. The most recent post on the page has a picture of Lobo wishing everyone a Happy Chaturthi.
The official page of the Minister on the other hand gained quite a lot of traction, with him and the CM together and the former playing the “ghumat” and reciting aartis in praise of Lord Ganesha
at the latter’s ancestral home in Kotambi-Sanquelim, along with the hashtag “Together4Goa.”
Lobo, not long ago, had come to attain the sobriquet ‘enfant terrible’ due to his vocal barbs and critique against decisions of his own BJP governments until he was inducted into the cabinet on the eve of the monsoon session of the legislative assembly which ended August 9.
Lobo had in fact stormed out of the swearing-in ceremony of Pramod Sawant at the Raj Bhavan in March, after he learnt that he had not been made minister.
Moreover, Lobo had in May gone on record to say that he was waiting for the day he would be made CM. But for now, all seems festive on the face of it.
